A sailboating mishap shut down the eastbound side of Fort Lauderdale's 17th Street Causeway for about an hour Tuesday afternoon, snarling traffic, officials said.

The 100-foot vessel was initially believed to have run into the southern side of the bridge. But Barbara Kelleher, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, said the bridge never was hit or damaged.

Kelleher said the boat ran aground in the channel while attempting to pass through the opened spans during low tide. While it was stuck, the eastbound-traffic portion of the bridge was forced to remain upright.

Fort Lauderdale police helped redirect eastbound drivers. Traffic in the westbound direction was unaffected during the incident, according to live footage of the incident provided by ftlauderdalewebcam.com.

"Everybody had to turn around," said Cathy Whalen, a Fort Lauderdale driver who was forced to cancel an afternoon errand because of the causeway delay.

From a distance, Whalen saw the sailboat stuck by the bridge. "The sailboat mast seemed taller than the bridge itself," she said.

Just before 2 p.m., three tow boats moved the sailboat away from the bridge, allowing the bridge's spans in both directions to be lowered. Traffic began flowing.